The Last Dance
The Last Dance is episode seventeen of season seven on Full House. It aired originally on February 8, 1994. Synopsis Jesse's grandfather, Iorgos "Papouli" Katsopolis, is back from Greece for another visit. The family finds it pleasant to have him around, and even more pleasant is when he decides to help make dinner that night, even engaging in a flour-throwing celebration while yelling "Opa!" (see Trivia). One morning during Papouli's visit, everyone goes to wake him up after Michelle has gone to school—only to discover that Papouli had died in his sleep from heart failure. Later that day, the sun may be shining outside the Tanner house; however, inside, the mood is dark (as sad music plays). Everyone is in devastation, shock, and tears as they learn the bad news. Jesse wishes that he could've done something, but Becky assures him there was nothing he could do. However, he still thinks that this is a bad dream; unfortunately, for him and the rest of the family, that bad dream just became a reality not too long ago and it hit them like a ton of bricks. When Michelle arrives home from school and her Honeybee meeting, Danny tells her that Papouli had passed away. Michelle is even more devastated and shocked than everyone else is, and, after insisting that it is not true that he is dead, throws the Honeybee project she made for Papouli down on the floor until it breaks into pieces, and storms off upstairs in tears. It turns out that Jesse is the only person who can comfort her, although he is taking it just as hard—and having an even harder time accepting the reality that his grandpa is indeed gone. Danny goes upstairs to talk to his "Little Princess", while everyone else continues to tearfully comfort each other, with Joey comforting Stephanie and Becky comforting D.J. Upstairs in her and Stephanie's room, Michelle is still crying on her bed, when Danny has to do the hard task of explaining the heartbreaking loss of Papouli. She tells him that it's not fair that Papouli's gone and she's mad over the loss, and he tells her that it's OK to feel mad. However, he reminds her they're a family and that they have to get through this the best they can, adding if she has any questions, she can come to him, Jesse, Becky, Stephanie, or even D.J. After he leaves, Stephanie comes in and also has a heart-to-heart with her younger sister. While the two roommates may feel like crying, and while Michelle is unsure if she can even stop herself from crying, Stephanie says that they have to be brave for Jesse as much as they can, and asks her roommate to control her tears and emotions as much as she can (or at least try), because if Jesse saw one or even both of them cry, he might cry again like he, Stephanie, and the rest of the family was earlier downstairs. She asks Michelle to think of other things, such as Joey stuffing a whole doughnut in his mouth. Michelle then finally realizes she has to accept the reality that life is indeed short, no matter how old or how long a person lives to be. Just as soon as Stephanie's words leave her mouth, Jesse enters the room and tells them that he will be in Greece for the next few days and maybe even the next few weeks for the funeral, which he has prepared without the family's help (despite them wanting to do it). When he notices his "Little Munchkin"'s emotions (which elicits laughter for the first time since the family got the bad news), he asks her what is wrong, and she mentions that she was thinking about Joey stuffing a whole doughnut in his mouth (which elicits more laughter). After he leaves, Stephanie hugs and praises her sister with a brief "Good job, kid" for keeping it together at the moment, and throughout the hard time that the family, as a whole, will have to suffer as a result. Meanwhile, D.J. and Kimmy argue over a pair of sunglasses, but Papouli's death helps them realize that their friendship is too important for them to argue over a pair of sunglasses; before his death, Papouli told D.J. a story about two Greek guys who were fighting over a pair of slippers, and said even their friendship was more important than that. After Papouli's death, Danny brings home a boat, with Papouli's name inscribed on the lifesaver in his name. Afterwards, Jesse gets a phone call from Michelle's school, saying that Michelle was missing from school, so Jesse tricks Michelle using a pudding cup, and asks her why she is out of school. Michelle says that she could not find her backpack, despite it being in the boat (where she is). After a long, heart-to-heart conversation (in which Michelle admits to Jesse that she had to feel brave for him because Stephanie told her as such, and Jesse tells her that Stephanie was wrong and that they should always share their feelings with each other because that is one of the things that makes them a family), Michelle asks Jesse if it's okay to cry; Jesse says it is, and they hug and cry at the same time. Jesse brings Michelle to school, and when she is unable to remember the rest of the Greek dance Papouli promised, Jesse helps her out (as the audience applauds and the EP credits appear). Quotes Michelle: Papouli was supposed to come to school today, to teach my class the Greek dance. Jesse: I'm sorry, kiddo. Michelle: I was afraid that if I went to school and Papouli wasn't there, I'd feel sad. Jesse: Michelle, it's okay to feel sad. Michelle: But if I feel sad, I might cry. And then I can't be brave... for you. Jesse: Michelle, where'd you get the idea you needed to be brave for me? Michelle: From Stephanie. She said you were so sad, we shouldn't make it worse. Jesse: Oh sweetheart, Stephanie... she probably thought she was telling you the right thing to do, but she was wrong. I'm gonna talk to her about that. Michelle, we should always share our feelings with each other. That's what makes us a family. Trivia *The second appearance of Papouli; the first was in the season four premiere "Greek Week" *In Greek culture, "Opa!" is an expression used during celebrations such as weddings and often accompanies plate smashing *Kimmy's "Beavis and Boat-head" remark was a reference to the title characters of the 1990s MTV animated series *Instead of the stills from just this episode, the credits are done over all the stills of Papouli's time with the family from both episodes Category:Episodes Category:Quotes Category:Season 7